The present invention relates to the field of games, particularly games for children that are educational. While there are many educational games currently on the market, the present invention contains features that the prior art lacks.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,408,952 teaches a card game with two sets of cards; one set of “lesson” cards with one set of “penalty” cards. The game is intended to simulate certain of the work and experiences of the school life of a child passing from the lowest school grade to and through high school.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,787,521 teaches a game in which each player receives a board and markers, the markers bearing indicia indicating where they belong on the board. The object of the game is for a player to remove all of his own markers from his board before his opponents. The removal of the markers is controlled by the rolling of indicator sticks.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,565,702 relates to improvements in playing cards and more particularly to a pack of cards specifically designed for affording amusement in playing interesting games, as well as for educational purposes for giving actual practice in simple fundamentals of mathematics, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and matching of combinations of numerals and colors.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,617,057 teaches a game and method of playing same which comprises a plurality of elongated sticks, preferably in groups of different indicia, and a ring through which the sticks are initially placed such that they can become freestanding in a generally conical configuration. Cards are provided for indicating a stick of a given indicia to be removed from the freestanding sticks by pulling the same through the ring.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,767,197 teaches a question and answer type of game which includes, in combination, a plurality of card-like members each bearing question-type indicia, a plurality of cube-shaped answer designation members each having different answer indicia associated with the question indicia on one or more of the cards, and a chute device for receiving the answer designation cubes and maintaining the cubes in the chronological order of their being deposited in the chute by the players of the game. The chute has a funnel portion for receiving the answer designation cubes and a base portion on which the funnel portion is readily removably mounted. The funnel portion has a window on one side thereof to permit visual observation of the answer designation cubes therein. The base portion has means to block the window when the funnel portion is mounted thereon to thereby selectively prevent visual observation of the answer cubes. The funnel portion thus must be removed from the base portion in order to see the answer designation cubes contained therein as well as the chronological order of their having been deposited therein. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, a plurality or set of answer designation cubes are provided for each player of the game so that the players must select the particular cube which will answer questions or solve the problem presented by one or more of the question cards.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,900,197 teaches a game which educates and entertains a child that employs a plurality of elongated sticks, each of which has indicia imprinted on the cross-sectional area of one end and a plurality of cups which may be mounted on a base; for example, an ash tray. The sticks are selectively distributed to the cups in a desired manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,951,297 teaches a game for teaching reading skills through phonics and decoding skills. The game provides for increasing student (player) interest by incorporating a wagering system similar to that of casino Blackjack. The wagering aspect makes the game attractive to mature students (players) who are learning to read or are improving their reading skills. The game uses word cards and sentence cards. The word cards have specially-selected words to emphasize important vowel sounds, common two letter combinations (consonant-consonant and consonant-vowel) and are selected to use words falling into categories selected for their universal association. The sentence cards are a logical progression from the philosophy of Universal Associative Learning, and pose questions or assign tasks to emphasize reading comprehension and critical thinking skills. The game also uses timing means which sets a period of time in which the card must be correctly responded to, and also uses chips for the placing of wagers. When there is more than one student reader playing against the banker, the student readers may compete to be the first to correctly respond to a single common card, or may independently attempt o respond to their individual cards.
US Patent Application 20040262841 teaches a color card game comprising a plurality of color cards (10), a plurality of wild cards (12) that may be aggregated in place of the color cards (10), and a chromatic wheel (14) that shows in which order the color cards (10) are to be aggregated. Each card (10,12) displays a unique color comprising a unique mixture of a hue and an intensity. Each of the color cards (10) also includes hue indicia (16) and intensity indicia (18). The wild cards (12) include five grey wild cards of varied intensities to match the intensities of the color cards (10) and may be used in place of any color card (10) having matching intensity. The wild cards (12) also include a white wild card, a black wild card, and a gold wild card, each of which may be used in place of any of the color cards (10).
The present invention teaches an educational game which children play with sticks or cards. One unique aspect of the present invention is that the sticks or cards have a question and answer on the same side, and the players ask each other the question and wait for the correct answer. Having both question and answer on the same side of the stick or card is beneficial to both players, but particularly to the player holding the stick or card. Seeing the question and answer together cements the correct answer in the player's mind through visual learning, and seeing the information during a pleasant activity associates the learning with positive feelings. Another positive learning aspect is that the answer may be announced numerous times during one embodiment of the game, which reinforces learning.
Another advantage of the current invention is ease of set-up and transportation. The entire game consists of a set of sticks or cards and possibly a rounds marker, so there is no bulky board or other pieces to set up, and the game can be set-up in a matter of minutes, simply by passing out the appropriate number of sticks or cards to the players. The rules for the game are elegantly simple as well, allowing play without elaborate instruction time. The educational level of the game is easily altered by choosing sticks or cards with higher level questions for older players, and sticks or cards with lower level questions for younger players. The game also has the advantage that it can still be played if parts become lost, and can be inexpensively expanded by adding new sticks or cards from expansion packs.
Another advantage of the present invention is that the media can be used to play many different embodiments of the basic game so that the entertainment value is increased. Additionally, any number of users can play games with the media, from a one player solitaire game to games of 100 players if teams and expansion packs are used.
The media can also be used in classrooms by teachers, who can act as a ‘leader’ and ask all of the questions, then award the sticks or cards to the students who get the right answers. A prize may be given to the child who collects the most sticks or cards, or for each correct answer. The students may pick the color category for the day, using a different color group for each day of the week, etc. The permutations on the game are many and can be modified to fit the group at hand.